With the Maratón Lima 42K scheduled to get underway in a few hours, Peruvian marathoner Efraín Sotacuro is ready for the event’s 10Km race, which serves as an important part of his 2016 Summer Paralympics preparations. He is looking to set a time of around 33 minutes and 22 seconds.

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The Peruvian has been in intensive training in Huancayo, doing 40 minute sessions in the morning and then an additional training session in the late evening. He was quoted by ITEA Comunicaciones as saying, “I go into this race very well prepared and with high expectations to improve my times with a view to the Paralympic Games in Rio. During these past weeks, I followed a rigid training regime in Huancayo and am now continuing my sessions in Lima with double shifts to perform my best. I know they have very good competitors and I seek to be among the best. I will give my all to achieve it.”

Sotacuro is the first Peruvian in history to qualify for the Paralympics in the marathon. He qualified for Rio after winning the T46 class at the Zurich Maraton de Sevilla, in his debut race at the elite level. Earlier this year, Sotacuro attended a ceremony following the Asociación Nacional Paralímpica del Perú gaining provisional membership with the International Paralympic Committee. In 2014, he participated in the II Open Internacional de Natación y Atletismo Paralímpico in Colombia.

Laura Hale is a sport journalist, specializing in Paralympic and disability sport news. Prior to helping found ParaSport-News, she spent two and a half years working as a journalist on Wikinews, a citizen journalism site. As a journalist, she has covered the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London, the 2013 IPC Alpine Skiing World Championships in La Molina, the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi, and a number of other sporting events. She has additional experience with Paralympic sport having worked as a Wikipedian in Residence for the Australian and Spanish Paralympic Committees.

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